About three months after its scheduled deployment to Iraq was canceled, the 3rd Infantry Division’s Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion has been ordered to Afghanistan.

The Department of Defense announced Thursday afternoon that the about 700-soldier unit and two brigade combat teams from the Fort Bragg, N.C.-based 82nd Airborne Division would deploy to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in August.

Because his unit had already undergone training for its expected November 2011 Iraq deployment — that was canceled when President Barrack Obama announced all U.S. troops would exit that country by the end of that year — 3rd ID Commander Maj. Gen. Robert Abrams said the new orders came as no surprise.

“Frankly, we have a trained and ready division headquarters,” Abrams said. “We spent an incredible amount of time, energy and resources to get this headquarters ready to go to Iraq.

“It was natural for the (Army’s) senior leaders to insert us, if you will, into the batting order knowing that we would need some additional training that’s Afghanistan specific.”

Although the unit has deployed to Iraq four times since the U.S. invaded in 2003, it has not before been ordered to Afghanistan. It most recently returned from a 13-month tour in Iraq in November 2010 just before Abrams took the division’s reins last April.

The major differences in training the unit’s soldiers to operate at a different destination center around language, culture and geography. The soldiers already have a beat on that, Abrams said.

“We’ve already started (training),” the general said. “We had a heads up that this was probably going to occur a couple of months ago, and we’ve taken steps through leader engagement with other units that have previously served in Afghanistan and I’ve personally led a pre-deployment site survey to Afghanistan in December.”

The unit has been designated to take the place of the headquarters element of the 82nd Airborne as the operational and tactical command element of the International Security Assistance Force’s Regional Command South. Abrams will serve as the commander of ISAF forces in the provinces of Kandahar, Uruzgan, Zabul and Daykundi. His unit, the general added, will also serve in an advise-and-assist role for its Afghan counterparts.

Although the Army’s new Deployment Period Policy — that cut deployment lengths from a year to nine months — went into effect Jan. 1, it specifies division headquarters elements will continue to serve 12-month deployments. Abrams said he expected the unit to return to Fort Stewart in late summer 2013.

The 3rd ID Headquarters will follow two battalions — totalling about 1,500 soldiers — from the 3rd ID’s 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team to Afghanistan. The Pentagon announced in early January the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment would deploy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in February and the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment would follow in April.

“The soldiers and leaders of this division have embraced the opportunity to once again serve their country overseas,” Abrams said. “They stand ready to accept the challenges and opportunities ahead, and they are prepared for this mission.”